Wednesday, March 23, 2011

dingalingalingalingaling (dinner bell...)

Improvised dinner recipe.  I had about 3 enormous chicken breasts.  That was it.  Wanted to cook a decent dinner, but had no plan.  Close my eyes... pasta, red sauce... CHEESE!  Check the pantry, old partially used boxes of pasta.  Off to the store.  Let the kid pick out some pasta.  Showed him four styles, he picked a fifth.  Redirect.  Ended up with a largish box of Barilla "Mini Fusilli".  Mental note, trust the kid and unknown option number five.  Need cheese.  Mozerella.  No wait!  Italian Five cheese...  Interesting, unusual, almost diabolical.  Loveley.  Home to the kitchen.
Cut the chicken in half to thin out the breasts a little.  Good move.  Used Panko to bread them, then skillet fried on the 12" over medium heat.  Coated with butter and I'm sizzlin'.  Browning.  Blackening... Wait!  I can still see pink in the mid-strata of the chicken, but the outside is too done.  Pulled them off.  Apologize to the dogs for the swearing.  Check the pinkness, they are close.  Stop cooking, head off to help Mr. Wizard with a house task.  Then, back to the kitchen.  Boil up the pasta.  Out of nowhere... I have an idea!  Pull out the 17" skillet.  Throw it in the oven and preheat to 350.  Pull it out and oil it lightly.  Dump in the cooked and rinsed pasta, with oregano mixed in it.  Pour on a can of tomato sauce.  Lay the chicken on top of the pasta.  Needs more.  Pour a jar of Ragu pizza sauce all over it.  Needs more red.  Pour on another can of tomato sauce to fill out the color.  Sprinkle with garlic salt and parmesan.  Then, 2 cups of of some italian 5-cheese mix that is mostly mozerella.  Into the oven to cook at 350 for 30 minutes. 
Result: The chicken finished out, and stayed very moist, the cheese melted wonderfully.  The panko soaked in enough sauce to lose any taste of blackening.  I actually felt italian while eating both unnecessarily large helpings.  Mmmm.  Ciao'!
Love and iron, Del.

1 comment:

  1. Oh man am I starving now....! That looks delicious. I just started using cast iron and that is all I will use..I will have to try that recipe and see if I can get it to look semi close to yours...yummmmmmm.

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